Cynthia McKinney on Environment

Green Party nominee for President (Former Rep., D, GA-4)

We need sustainable production and consumption policies

Reconstruction Party Manifesto point #8. We Want an Environmental Protection Policy that Works Now! We want our forests protected and restored; we want sustainable resource use and reuse, and we want less waste to dispose.
We want renewable energy and we don’t want policies that pit food production against energy production. We want drinkable and clean water, soil, and air. We want to live within our resource means.

We need air, land, water, climate, production and consumption policies that reflect the real limits within which we must live.
We need an entirely new paradigm that encourages us to produce green, local, and fairly; most importantly we need true, representative government that serves the needs of the people over that of corporations so that these policies can become law.

Add organic farming, sustainability, and GM ban to Farm Bill

Q: What is wrong with the Farm Bill, if anything?

A: I would make sure we had a program to encourage organic farming. I would also like to see some money set aside in the Farm Bill for damages to black farmers and other minority farmers for
discrimination that USDA admitted to. The attorneys received millions of dollars. I would eliminate genetically-modified foods. I would also look at our land and water use policy--because some of what we are doing is absolutely not sustainable.

Recognize Katrina victims as Internally Displaced Persons

Support for the rights of return for IDPs, including
their right to vote in their home states;

Reparations for IDPs for the losses they incurred due to government abandonment and negligence;

Support for a massive federal public works project in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

Source: Interview with “Reconstruction Renaissance”
Jan 8, 2008

Assess toxic contaminants in aftermath of Katrina & Rita

McKinney introduced the following bill in the 109th Congress: H.R.4139: To minimize harm to populations impacted by the release of environmental contaminants, hazardous materials or infectious materials in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita by providing for a Comprehensive Environmental Sampling and Toxicity Assessment Plan (CESTAP) to assess and monitor air, water, soil and human populations, and for other purposes.

Voted YES on increasing AMTRAK funding by adding $214M to $900M.

Voting YES on this amendment would restore $214 million in funding for AMTRAK, bringing the total annual expenditure for AMTRAK to $1.114 billion. The chairman of the Railroad Subcommittee explained the increase as follows:

Unlike aviation, highways and transit, there is no dedicated funding for investing in our Nation's passenger rail service. This amendment restores $214 million to the Amtrak account, taking it to $1.114 billion, which is still about $300 million less than we had during the course of last year's discussion.

Last year the President sent up a budget of zero for Amtrak. We had an amendment process that we went through this time. This time we are up to $900 million in the bill [without this amendment].

But if you look at that $900 million, there is only $500 million for capital expenditures, out of which has to come a debt service of $280 million, which only leaves $220 million for the capital needs of this country for Amtrak, for passenger rail.

There is nothing for
operation, and I know that the response to that is going to be that there are some incentive grants in the bill.

Opponents of the amendment say that it would increase funding for Amtrak by gutting and eliminating critical programs, including safety programs, resulting in reductions in force at several agencies.

Sponsored bill prohibiting commercial logging on public land.

Forest Service polls show that a strong majority of the American people think that natural resources on Federal public lands should not be made available to produce consumer goods.

Recreation and tourism in the National Forest System creates over 30 times more jobs, and generates over 30 times more income, than commercial logging on national forests.

Timber cut from Federal public lands comprises less than 5% of US annual timber consumption.

The vast majority of America's original pristine forests have been logged, and what little primary forest that remains exists almost entirely on public lands.

It is in the interests of the American people and the international community to protect and restore native biodiversity in our Federal public lands for its inherent benefits.

Commercial logging has many indirect costs which are very significant, but not easily measured, such as flooding damage, damage to
the salmon fishing industry; and harm to the recreation and tourism industries.

EXCERPTS OF BILL:

Prohibits commercial logging and timber sales (with specified exceptions) on Federal public lands, with a two-year phase-out for existing contracts.

Provides for payment of relinquished contracts.

Establishes a National Heritage Restoration Corps to restore (and monitor) such lands to their natural pre-logging condition.